kscans

Chapter 63 - Just for Now, The Secret of Their Embrace

Leonhard and Mireille returned to the tower. The scenery was unchanged. But they themselves had been through too much. The threads of their hearts were stretched to their limit.

I need to support Mireille... I need to tell Leonhard-san about my master...

They both thought, but before words could form, their lips met.

At first, because of the awkwardness that had grown between them, they pressed their lips together tentatively, as if to confirm something. But that soon intensified, and they could no longer hold back.

"Leonhard-san..."

"Mireille..."

Even the sound of their names was a plea for the next kiss.

With each touch of their lips, the heat grew, their mouths tangling more deeply. Their breathing hitched, their sighs mingled, and still they sought each other.

Leonhard's hand moved gently from Mireille's cheek to her ear, then his lips and fingertips traced her neck. Mireille shivered with a jolt.

"Are you scared? Is this okay?"

When Leonhard finally pulled his lips away to ask, she shook her head and this time, it was Mireille who sought his lips again.

His fingertips then threaded through her hair and his arm wrapped around her back, and they held each other in a tight embrace.

Was it because of everything that had happened? Thoughts of courting her again properly after it was all over, of whether she might be drawn to someone her own age, of how he shouldn't go any further for her sake, all ran through his mind.

He understood it intellectually. She was still much younger than him. He told himself that.

But in this country, eighteen was already the age when one started to be considered of marriageable age.

He wanted to make her his fiancée, for real.

"...!"

A strong desire overwhelmed his reason. There was no telling if they would have a next time. That's why, just for now.

Before they knew it, the two had tumbled onto the small bed on the second floor. The small magic stone lamp by the bed cast their overlapping shadows, and the sound of their breaths and heartbeats echoed in the room.

ーーー

They spent some time just holding each other, and then Mireille told Leonhard about the diary.

"I'm sorry... I really should have asked about you first. I was too harsh on you back then."

Leonhard placed a kiss on her forehead.

"But I won't take back what I said. You weren't raised to shoulder Ariel-san's wounds, but to show everyone a different way of life, raised with love. That's why I want you to develop your own good qualities."

With that, he slowly sat up and moved away from Mireille. Her chest tightened at the loss of his warmth.

As he straightened his clothes, he said.

"Rest for a bit. I'll get the contents of the wooden boxes ready."

What was the reason Ariel was captured by Rainer?

Leonhard wondered. It was hard to believe that someone as powerful as her would be outmaneuvered by the captain of the Mage Order. Was she threatened, or deceived? Darius surely held the same suspicions.

Carrying the wooden box, he headed downstairs and saw that Mireille had also started spreading out materials on the third floor.

"Are you okay? If there's anything I can do to help, let me know."

"I have to fight off sleepiness, so... I'd like some coffee."

Mireille smiled.

Ugh, he was weak to that. He had intended to let her rest, but instead, he'd turned it into a time for them to confirm their feelings for each other.

"Alright." Leonhard smiled back and lit the stove on the second floor.

The aroma of coffee and the lingering scent of Mireille mixed in the night air.